Ironing machine



Dec. 19, 1944. F. M. FREIS 2,365,542

' IRONING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l III InINVENTOR.

Dec. 19, 1944.

F. M. FREIS IRONING MACHINE Original Fi led Aug. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet2 fmlu I Patented Dec. 19, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT :oFFlcs moms MAcmNEI Frederick M. 'Freis, Chicago, Ill.,, assign'or to Conlon Corporation,-Cicero, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application August 29,1941, Serial No. 408,703. Divided and this application October 19, 1942,Serial No. 462,538

4 Claims.

'mounted shoe operating shaft and associated shoe supporting means, inconjunction with means for quickly coupling and uncoupling thesupporting means to and from the shaft, for movement of the shoe withthe shaft to the roll or from the roll independently of the shaft. Thecoupling means comprises means for adjusting the spring pressure of theshoe and means as'- suring movement of the shoe away from the roll whenthe shoe supporting means is uncoupled from the shaft. Further objectsand advantages of my invention will appear from the detail decri-ption.

- In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front View of an ironing machine embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a back view of the machine of Figure 1, with the shoe coverremoved; and

and movable to and from the roll. Roll 43 comprises an inner cylinder45, conveniently formed of sheet metal, and a pad 46 mounted uponcylinder 45 in a known manner.

The roll 43 is driven from a suitable motor (not shown) housed therein,by means of appropriate gearing and control means (not shown) withingear housing 42, under control of rod I03 provided at its forward endwith button I06, and the control member comprising knob I3I and shankI32 extending therefrom into a sheet metal casing I05 secured to andenclosing gear hc ising 42. A shoe operating arm I02 is disposed withinthe casing I05 and extends gen- This erally forwardly and upwardlytherein. arm I 02 is swung upward and downward by suitable motoroperated means (not shown) within casing I 05, responsive to movement ofknob I3I from its lower position shown in Figure Figure 3 is an outerend view, on an enlarged scale of the gear housing and roll and shoe andassociated parts, certain parts being partly broken awa and certainother parts being shown in section.

This application is a division of my copending application for Ironingmachine, Serial No. 408,703, filed August 29, 1941, which has maturedinto Patent No. 2,346,374, issued April 11, 1944. My instant inventionis directed particularly to those features having to do with themounting and operation of the shoe, to an understanding of which adetailed description of the other features of the machine is notessential. Accordingly, a brief description of vthe machine as a whole,with a detailed description of the shoe supporting and operating meansof my instant invention, will suffice.

The ironing machine shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a base 40conveniently formed of sheet metal and rectangular in plan and providedwith rubber bumpers 4|, a gear housing 42 bolted or otherwise suitablysecured to base 40 -adjacent one end thereof and extending up-. wardtherefrom, a roll 43 extending from gear housing 42 inward over base'40,and a shoe 44 mounted in back of roll 43 cooperating therewith 3 to anupper position and vice versa. The means for rotatably supporting theroll 43 and driving it, and for operating the shoe operating arm I02,and the associated controls, are fully disclosed in my above identifiedcopending application and need not be described in greater detail here.So far as my instant invention is concerned, the roll 43 may be mountedand driven in any suitable known manner, any suitable 7 known means maybe provided for imparting swinging movement to shoe operating arm I02 anappropriate distance in either direction, and any suitable known meansfor controlling operation of the roll 43' and of the shoe operating armI02 may be provided. Suflice it to state that roll 43 is driven in asuitable manner and power means is provided for swinging shoe operatingarm I 02 a proper distance in either direction and then stopping it,there being suitable means provided for controlling operation of theroll 43 and of the shoe operating arm I02.

Shoe operating arm I02 is mounted at its rearward end on the outer endof 'a tubular shoe shaft IIO rockably mounted in a sleeve III formedintegrally with the gear housing 42, shaft I I0 being confined againstendwise movement by stop collars H2 and H3 suitably secured thereon andcontacting the ends of sleeve I I I. hub II4, shown in Figures 2 and 3,is secured on the outer end, portion of shaft II 0 and arm I02 issecured to flange II5 of hub H4 in a suitable manner, conveniently bymeans of a screw I I6. It will be seen that when shoe operating arm I02is swung upward about the axis of shaft Ill, in a clockwise direction asviewed in Figure 3,

shaft 0 is. turned clockwise for moving shoe ments and associated parts.

, M rearward away from roll 55, and when arm I82 is swung downward intoits lowered position shown in Figure 3 shaft I62 is turnedcounterclockwise, as viewed in Figure 3, for moving the shoe to the rollinto cooperating relation thereto.

Shoe shaft III]; extends inwardly above base it to about the mid-lengthof the shoe t l. A coupling arm I50 is secured on the inner end of shaftIII] and extends rearwardly therefrom, this arm being slotted from itsrearward end. A shoe supporting arm I5I, comprising two plates I52(Figure 2), is loosely mounted on shaft H0 and straddles arm I50. Attheir rearward lower portions the plates I52 are secured together by aspacer I53 and a block I55, disposed between plates I52, is pivotallymounted therein below coupling arm I56, by means of associated studsAdjacent their upper end plates I52 are secured together by a U-shapedbridge member I56, the arms of which are spot welded or otherwisesuitably secured to plates I52. Bridge member I56 carries a rearwardlyopening spring clip I57 of known type, secured thereto in a suitablemanner and disposed to receive the upper portion of a release rod I58provided at its upper end with a knob I59. The lower portion of rod I58is threaded and screws through block I54. A thimble I68 is looselymounted on rod I53 for movement lengthwise thereof, downward movement ofthis thimble being limited by a pin I6! secured through rod I59 anddisposed within a recess I62 extending from the lower end of thimbleI60. At its upper end, thimble IE0 is recessed to provide a seat for thelower end of a coil compression spring I53, disposed about rod I58 andconfined between thimble IGI] and an inverted cup member I641 mounted onrod I58 and confined against upward movement thereon, by a pin I65secured through the rod. The lower portion of thimble I68 is rounded asshown in Figure 3, to facilitate movement thereof onto the the rollunder spring pressure.

upper face of arm I56 when rod I58 is swung The shoe I I is of knowntype and is provided with a sheet metal cover I68, providing withtheshoe a housing for enclosing the heating ele- A channel clamping bar It?is-ibolted or otherwise suitably secured to the back of shoe M at themid-portion thereof and has secured thereto, by welding or in any othersuitable manner, two spaced ears I68. A pin I69 extends through theupper forward portions of plates I52 and through ears I68, providing apivotal connection between shoe lid and shoe supporting arm I5I, towhich arm the shoe is thus connected for movement therewith to and fromthe roll at.

A coil tension spring I II! is attached at its uper end to pin I69,conveniently by being hooked thereover, the lower end of this springbeing hooked through a web element I'II formed integrally with thecoupling arm I 50. Since the lineof pull of sprin III) is in back ofshaft H0, this spring tends to swing the shoe supporting arm I5Irearward and downward, assuring proper contact ofthinfble I60 withcoupling arm I5Il, when rod I58' is swung forward into couplingposition. I

Normally, rod I58 remains in its coupling position shown in Figure 3,thus coupling shoe supporting arm 1 5| to shaft I IE for movementtherewith. When shoe operating arm I02 is swung upward, the shoesupporting arm I5I is moved downward and rearward so as to move shoeaway from roll 333, and, when arm I92 is swung downward, shoe supportingarm iEiI is swung forward moving the shoe to the roll into cooperatingrelation therewith, and spring I533 is placed under compression holdingthe shoe to In order quickly to release the shoe from the roll, rod I56is moved rearwardly as to disengage thirnble IGS arm I50, spacer I55limiting this rearward movement of rod I58. When the release rod beenthus disengaged from arm 55%, tension spring Ild swings shoe supportingarm I55 rear ward and downward moving the shoe away from the roll. Itwill be understood that spring I53 is considerably heavier than tensionspring I and that the latter does not objectionably in.- terfere withthe function of spring in holdme the shoe to the roll under springpressure.

When the shoe M is in cooperating relation to the roll, as shown inFigure 3, it may be quick ly released from shaft IIil by swingingrelease rod I58 rearward, as above explained. In order to recouple theshoe supporting arm I5I to shoe operating shaft IIIi, release rod I 58is swung forward into the slot of arm I 58 so as to dispose thimble I55above and in contact with the latter arm. As will be clear from thedrawings, release rod I55, including knob I55; extends above shoe M andis accessible from in front of the machine for effecting the uncouplingand coupling operations referred to. By screwing release rod I58 throughblock I5 5, the compres sion of spring I63 may be varied. The releaserod I58 thus provides quick acting and readily accessible means forcouplingand uncoupling shoe M to and from the shoe operating shaft III], and also provides readily accessible means for adjusting the springpressure exerted upon shoe MI when the latter is in cooperating relationto roll 53.

As previously stated, the shoe M is of known construction and preferablyheated by electrical resistancev elements having an associatedthermostat I73 (Figure-2), to which and the resistance element orelements, as the case may be, current is supplied by means of a suitablecord or cable IId lead through the tubular shaft III! at a point withinthe sheet metal casing I05. The latter is provided with a flangedremovable cover plate I75 and provides a housing for the outer endportion of shaft III? and associated parts. Conveniently the cable orcord I I: is provided at its free end with a plug cap I??? of knowntype, or any other suitable means may be provided, for connecting thecable to a source of electric current.

It will be understood that various changes in construction andarrangement of parts of my invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the field and scope thereof, and I intend to include allsuch variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, inthis application in which the preferred form only of my insaid shaftloose thereon, means connect ng said shoe to said supporting arm formovement therewith, a release rod having pivoted and screw connectionsto said supporting arm extending upwardly of the latter and movableabout its pivot into and out of the slot of said coupling arm, and meanscarried by said rod cooperating with said slotted arm for coupling saidsupporting arm to said slotted arm for movement therewith and foruncoupling said supporting arm from said slotted arm for independentmovement away from said roll, said means comprising means for exertingspring pressure upon said shoe when the latter is in cooperatingrelation to said roll and for varying the effective force of saidpressure by threading said rod through said screw connection.

2. In an ironing machine, a rotating roll and a cooperating shoe, arockably mounted shoe shaft in back of said shoe, a coupling arm securedon said shaft extending rearward therefrom and provided with a slotopening through its rearward end, a shoe supporting arm extending upwardfrom said shaft loose thereon, means connecting said shoe to saidsupporting arm for movement therewith, a block pivoted on saidsupporting arm, a release rod threaded through said block movable aboutthe pivot thereof into and out of the slot of said coupling arm, athimble loose on said rod disposed to bear on the upper face of saidslotted arm when said --ward therebelow, means connecting said shoe tosaid supporting arm for movement therewith, a'

block pivoted in said supporting arm below said slotted arm, a releaserod threaded through said block movable about the pivot thereof into andout of the slot of said coupling arm, a thimble slidable on said roddisposed to bear on the upper face of said slotted arm when'said rod isdisposed in said slot, an abutment member on said rod above said thimbleconfined against upward movement, a. compression spring on said rodconfined between said thimble and said abutment member, and means forrocking said shaft.

4. In an ironing machine, a rotating roll and a cooperating shoe, arockably mounted shoe shaft in back of said shoe, a coupling arm securedon said shaft extending rearward therefrom and provided with a slotopening through its rearward end, a shoe supporting arm extending upwardfrom said shaft loose thereon and straddling said slotted arm andextending downward therebelow, means connecting said shoe'to saidsupporting arm for movement therewith, a block pivoted in saidsupporting arm below said slotted arm and in back of said shaft, arelease rod threaded through said block movable about the pivot thereofinto and out of the slot of said coupling arm, a thimble slidable onsaid rod having limited downward movement thereon and disposed to 'bearon the upper face of said slotted arm when said rod is disposed in saidslot, an abutment member on said rod above said th mble confined againstupward movement, a compression spring on said rod confined between saidthimble and said abutment member, means for rocking said shaft, meansyieldingly urging said supporting arm downward and rearward about saidshaft in a direction to move said thimble toward said slotted arm, andmeans for releasably holding said rod in position disposed in the slotof said coupling arm.

FREDERICK M. FREIS.

